123

be tolerated in their private houses. After some discussion

about postponing the execution of this work until after theannual meeting, we are glad to say that the good sense ofthe governors present carried the day, and the plans were

adopted and the work is to be carried out. This is mani-

festly a step in the right direction; and although limitedfor the present to the men’s side of the hospital, it musttend to effect a considerable improvement. Much dis-

cussion then took place regarding the prevalence of ery-sipelas among the patients, and its causes. Now, we donot deny that cases of erysipelas will occasionally presentthemselves in well-regulated hospitals affording amplecubic space and good ventilation; but there can be nodoubt that the origin and spread of this disease is greatlyinfluenced by the action of insanitary conditions. Accordingto Mr. SHARPIN, several nurses had been attacked with this

disease, which had generally appeared when the wards wereovercrowded. There had been six cases in a month-two

proving fatal. In one of his cases, improvement immediatelytook place when more air was admitted; and since the WeeklyCommittee had reduced the number of beds and given each

patient 1000 cubic feet of air, there had been no fresh cases.Mr. SHARPIN alleged that " other institutions gave at leasttwo and a half as much space per bed as they did at theBedford Infirmary." The meeting would not have beencomplete, we may presume, without the presence of Mr.HURST, the gentleman who, on a former occasion, illus-trated his idea of the folly of ventilation by the exampleof the mode in which a sow and her litter pack together.He could not on this occasion, apparently, for the life ofhim see how you could have ventilation without draughts;

t and he justified his position as to the evil effects of over-ventilation by citing the verdict of the jury at a late in-quest in London. We are not anxious to discuss questionsof hospital hygiene with Mr. HURST, but we may credit himwith sufficient intelligence to perceive that the ventilationof a ward is one thing, and the warming of it another;and that there is some slight difference between the case of

aged men, suffering from rheumatism and bronchitis, beingplaced in a newly-constructed, draughty, cold ward, with insufficient means for warming it, and that of youngermen, suffering from surgical diseases, located in a wardthe air of which is renewed sufficiently often to keep itpure, and provided with proper artificial heat to maintaina comfortable temperature.

Medical Annotations."Ne quid nimis." ’

THE PRINCE OF WALES.

THERE is really nothing to be said medically with regard tothe Prince of Wales, save that his Royal Highness is virtually"out of the doctor’s hands." The best indication of thefact is the ability of His Royal Highness to take, to enjoy,and to profit by out-of-door exercise, even at a time whenthe weather is anything but the best suited to invigorateconvalescents. Recalling the main facts of the illnessthrough which His Royal Highness has passed, we are morethan ever impressed with the conviction that had the Princelived in the days when the gold-headed cane and the wig

were the chief insignia of the physician, he would, humanlyspeaking, have never been restored to the nation. The

physician would have penned an elaborate prescription,leaving, as was the custom, the carrying out of his direc-tions in detail to unskilled hands. The public must neverforget how modern medical science, directed by the mostskilled and able men amougst us, ordered and regulatedeverything, to the minutest matter, about the Prince. Thematured judgment and acute forethought of the physicians,who were always at the bedside, prevented, on the onehand, the injurious action of the thousand and one-tonon-professional minds-insignificant things that oftentimestogether do great harm to the sick; and on the other hand,secured in the very nick of time, and at every emergency,the exhibition of the right remedy. Whilst we recognisethe hand of Providence, we still claim for modern medicalscience that she has signally won fresh laurels, in therecovery of the Prince of Wales.

THE WATSON AND EDMUNDS CASES.

ALTHOUGH we hold a very distinct opinion of our ownrespecting the case of Mr. Watson, we cannot be altogethersurprised that the Home Secretary (with the concurrenceof the Lord Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Byles) has pre-ferred merely to commute his sentence, instead of pro-nouncing him insane. No doubt there was much in the

history of the prisoner’s life to suggest, on a superficialview and without very careful consideration of medical de-

tails, that the prisoner was not out of his mind, but simplytoo infirm of temper to control himself under severe pro-vocation coming at a time when he was broken down withtrouble. But we cannot accept this decision as one whichcorresponds with the conclusions of medical science; onthe contrary, we must express the opinion that, if it be

impossible now to save Mr. Watson from penal servitude, anew and painful illustration has been given of the gulfwhich is fixed between legal views of responsibility and thefacts of mental derangement as they are familiar to thosewho are constantly dealing with the wholly or partiallyinsane. We shall recapitulate the principal points ofthe case, which leave no doubt in our mind that, irre-

spective of pity for his helpless old age and his great mis-fortunes, Mr. Watson ought to have been saved from aconvict’s doom. It is evident that so long as the poor mansaw before him any hope of obtaining a subsistence, he

bore all his troubles and his (probably severe) marital pro-vocations with patience, showing a chastened and self-restrained temper which was not merely respectable butadmirable. It is equally plain that the shock of the lossof his situation thoroughly unhinged him, and that fromthat moment he was a changed man. That the changereally affected his whole mental balance seems clear fromevidence as to his conduct before, during, and after themurder. It appears that his memory was seriously im-paired, that a settled melancholy possessed him to sucha degree as to incapacitate him for the performance of asimple clerical duty, that he walked about the neigh-bourhood of his house talking loudly to himself, &c. &c.When he killed his wife, his procedure, as Dr. Rogers justly

observes, was not in the least like that of a merely angryman, of previously gentle habits and culture; he batteredthe poor corpse with the senseless ferocity of some raging

wild beast. Finally, his whole demeanour since the fatalact has shown something far more remarkable than anymere apathy as to his moral guilt; there has been a realintellectual incapacity to apprehend either the true natureof his act or its probable consequences to himself. Add tothis the fact that he, whose whole previous life had beenthat of a believing Christian clergyman, deliberately de-

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fended his attempt at suicide in conversation with Dr. work altogether, he carried on his labours as energeticallyRogers; and we affirm that the whole case bears the un- as if he were in good health. " When I called to mind themistakable impress of mental derangement. Surely it is suffering and loss of rest that he must have undergone onnot necessary, at the present day, to insist that his un- that occasion," remarked a medical officer whom he haddoubted clearness of intellect in some directions, and his consulted, 11 I realised what a thoroughly fine fellow

(by no means skilful) efforts to conceal his crime, are not McMaster was." ____

impossible, or even unusual, concomitants of insanity. In -

fact, there wanted but one piece of additional evidence to INTERNATIONAL COPYRICHT.make any verdict but that of insanity impossible-viz., WE print in another column a letter from Mr. H. C. Lea,the evidence of hereditary disease, and we understand of Philadelphia, the bookseller who has republished mostthat there is much probability that such existed (though of our standard English works on Medicine and Surgery,from unfortunate circumstances it could not be proved) in and may be presumed to have made a good profit on thethe case of Mr. Watson’s father. transaction. Mr. Lea complains of some remarks whichThat evidence which, as we have just said, would have TjiE LANCET reviewer of " Hamilton on Fractures and

compelled the acquiescence of every reasonable man in the Dislocations" made with respect to Mr. Lea’s reproductions,theory of Mr. Watson’s insanity, was abundantly present and maintains that he has always treated English authorsin the case of Christiana Edmunds, as to whom we can speak and publishers liberally, and can count on his fingers thewithout a shade of the hesitation which one feels in a doubt- works he has not paid for since he has had sole charge offul case. If there be one thing certainly proved in mental his business. From the business-heading of his letter wemedicine, it is this-that for any woman, belonging to a learn that Mr. Lea’s sole responsibility dates from 1865, sofamily which (like that of the Edmunds’s) was a prey that if in six years even only ten English authors haveto insanity and other nervous diseases, and living an in- been denied their rights, we fail to see how this bettersvoluntarily single life while struggling with hysteria and Mr. Lea’s position. But from careful inquiries we havesuppressed sexual feeling, it would be almost impossible to go made, we are in a position to deny that Mr. Lea, or his firm,on to the critical age of forty-three without actual derange- has dealt with either English authors or publishersment of mind. That her crime had a motive, and that her liberally or even fairly. When we say that Mr. Lea hasconduct was directed with an infernal cunning towards her published several large editions of Erichsen’s Surgery, andend, is not in the least inconsistent with the worst forms of has only within the last few weeks made a very insignificantmadness. We do not hesitate to say that had Christiana acknowledgment of his obligations to that author, whoseEdmunds been hanged, a judicial murder would have been work had such a sale that it was stereotyped in America; andcommitted; and we commend the Home Secretary for seek- that other popular authors have fared even worse at hising the opinion of such competent authorities as Sir Wm. hands, we think most of our readers will agree that the re-Gull and Dr. Orange, and promptly acting upon it. marks made had a just foundation.

———— Mr. Lea would have us to suppose that his profits are

A MEDICAL HERO. very small, and that English reprints have a very limited.

sale. We venture to say, on the contrary, that the saleON the 22nd inst., the army, and especially the 78th of English reprints is very large, and everyone who is ac-

Highlanders, lost the services of one of its bravest, most quainted with the profession in America is aware how well-unselfish, and devoted medical officers-Dr. Valentine M. known English authors are. It is, we learn, Mr. Lea’sMcMaster, V.C., surgeon of the 78th Regiment. Dr. custom, when applied to by an author whose work he hasMcMaster was only thirty-seven at the time of his death. appropriated, to profess that the sale is limited, and thatHe entered the service in 1855, and served in the 78th and he expects to be a loser by the transaction. We only wishafterwards in two cavalry regiments as an assistant-surgeon. the chagrined authors had the opportunity of sharing whatPromoted to the rank of staff-surgeon in 1868, he was soon he is pleased to call his losses!afterwards placed in medical charge of his old corps, with Notwithstanding the so-called liberality of Mr. Lea,which he was serving at the time of his death. Dr. the conduct of the American Government in refusingMcMaster was in the Persian war of 1857. He left Alla- all answer to Mr. Erichsen’s claim for the 5000 copieshabad with Havelock’s celebrated column in the same year, of his work distributed to army surgeons during theand was present in all the engagements that ensued up to civil war, shows how little regard the American nationthe 12th of August. He was likewise present on the second has to fair dealing in the matter of brain-work. Mr.

advance into Oude, at the relief of Lucknow, the Rohilcund Erichsen’s, too, is not the only instance of the kind,

campaign, and capture of Bareilly. The Victoria Cross was for we are informed that Professor Longmore’s articleconferred upon him for the intrepidity with which he on Gunshot Injuries was reprinted from Holmes’s Sys-exposed himself to the fire of the enemy in bringing in and tem of Surgery, and given by the Government to everyattending to the wounded on the 25th of September, 1857, American army surgeon, though Messrs. Parker, the pub-at Lucknow, on which occasion he received a slight wound. lishers of the work, received no answer when they appliedMany very gallant deeds were done in that campaign, but for redress. An attempt is made in a slip from the Medicalit was the unanimous opinion of the regiment, from its News and Library, forwarded to us by Mr. Lea, to explaincommanding officer downwards, that no one deserved the away the injustice done to Mr. Erichsen, by declaring thatVictoria Cross so much as McMaster, on whom it was con- there was a miscalculation as to the number of copies issued,ferred. It is a simple matter of justice to state that it was but no allusion is made to Professor Longmore’s article,.

impossible for any man to have been more beloved or popular, In the same paper it is stated that " every American edition

by officers and men alike, than the deceased officer. He of Erichsen’s Surgery has been issued under an arrange-possessed those qualities of character that command respect ment with the London publishers." We have authority towithout awakening envy orjealousv. He was always earnest state that no such arrangement has been made, except asand self-sacrificing in his work, and on one occasion in par- regards copies of the woodcuts, and that the sum receivedticular, during a time of pressure and anxiety, when suffer- little more than covers the cost of electrotyping. Englishing from a painful surgical affection that would have authors and publishers are, in fact, forced to give electro-caused anyone with less nobility of purpose to cease from types at cost price in self-defence, or submit to have a work

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published with old and worn-out illustrations which very but their employment is open to the objections that they areinadequately illustrate the author’s meaning. very expensive, and that the substance by which they areAs Mr. Lea has taken up the cudgels on behalf of himself cemented together is not impermeable; and, considering the

and his countrymen, we conclude this article by calling small size of these tiles, the aggregate number of inter-attention to the fact that in addition to publishing stices to be filled up would be too great. After all, perhapsErichsen’s Surgery edited by John Ashurst, jun., M.D., the best thing to do is to paint the walls with severalhe has quite recently brought out a work of a thousand coatings of any colour, protected with a very thick layer ofpages on the Principles and Practice of Surgery by the varnish. This would probably be impermeable, and admitsame gentleman, who has not merely availed himself of the at the same time of being thoroughly cleansed and purifiedillustrations of Erichsen and other standard works, but has from time to time.followed the plan, arrangement, and method of Erichsen so

-

closely that one work may be taken as an epitome of the CONTACION IN LODCINC HOUSES.

other. Mr. Lea may regard this as an original work, but IN the case of Best v. Stap, heard before the Court ofwe cannot do so, since there is scarcely more original Queen’s Bench on Saturday on a demurrer, a point of greatmatter in it than in a recent production of the English press importance was at issue, but will not be fully settled untillately forwarded to THE LANCET. after the trial of the cause. It appeared that the defendant

Philadelphia has hitherto been the head-quarters of lets part of his house at Eastbourne to lodgers, residingAmerican medical book publishing, but we are happy to with his family in the other part; and that, at a time whenlearn that a firm in New York is bestirring itself to put his children were suffering, or had lately suffered, fromforth works by English authors, for which it is proposed to small-pox, he let his lodgings to the plaintiff’s family with-pay these gentlemen a fair remuneration for their labours. out warning them of the danger they were incurring. The

Under these circumstances we hope that English authors plaintiff’s wife and children became infected by the disease,will be able shortly to obtain some recognition of their and two of the children died. The plaintiff thereuponservices to American medical literature, and that, as the brought his action, and the defendant demurred to theAmerican law prevents one publisher from victimising his declaration, contending that he was under no legal obliga-fellow-countryman, they may cease to experience the tion to disclose the state of his children, and also that therefavours hitherto conferred upon them with such question- was no legal evidence of the source of infection. The Lordable Philadelphic zeal. ____

Chief Justice said there were certain facts wanting which-

it was necessary should be in the possession of the CourtPARIAN FOR HOSPITALS. before they gave judgment; and that, therefore, it would

ONE of the great things to be accomplished in hospitals be better to have the action tried first, and to argue the

is the provision of walls of impermeable material in the demurrer afterwards.

wards. It has been found that absorbent surfaces, taking The importance to the community of the general questionup and retaining the organic matters that are constantly here raised can hardly be overstated; since, if the plaintiff’spresent in hospital air, become sources of danger to the action can be sustained, it will open the door to legal pro-inmates. Not only are infectious diseases liable to be ceedings that will greatly promote the isolation of personsspread in this way, but surgical cases are prone to be suffering from contagious disease. If, on the other hand,attacked with various complications. For example, in a the action should fall to the ground, it will show at a veryward of the New York City Hospital, where hospital opportune time the absence of any legal obligation com-

gangrene had appeared, removal of the furniture and mensurate with an unquestionable moral one ; and may do

patients did not prevent fresh patients from being attacked. * much to impress upon the Legislature the need for some of

Closing of the ward and whitewashing had no effect. The the enactments which sanitary workers so much desire. In

plastering was then removed and fresh plaster applied, but The Times of January 19th there was a letter bearing thestill cases occurred; and then, as a last resource, the walls signature of M.D., and relating how a man was attackedwere taken down and rebuilt, which effected the desired by small-pox, was removed to hospital, and died there inend. Sometimes it has happened that absorbent walls, three days. His widow immediately called in a broker, soldfouled and stained with organic matters, have failed to her furniture, slept that night with a friend, and went the

give rise to any apparent injury to health until they had next day to her relations in the country. The friend with

been disturbed by cleansing and scraping. All sanitarians whom she slept has small-pox badly; the furniture-broker

have been impressed with the necessity of providing the and the widow herself are both ill; and the furniture is

walls of hospital-wards with some substance impermeable liable to be sold piecemeal, and to convey the disease intoto fluids and gases, and it has been generally considered a dozen houses. Surely it is high time that Parliamentthat parian cement met these requirements. Notwith- should place some obstacle in the way of the concealment

standing its great expense, parian has consequently been of contagious disease. ____

used in all our best hospitals of late construction. There

is much reason to fear, however, that it does not entirely DR. DYTE AND THE ST. PANCRAS CUARDIANS.

fulfil its purpose in this respect; at any rate the parian in ST. PANCRAS has just won another of its fatal victories.some of our hospitals has become stained and dirty-looking, Many of our readers will be surprised to hear that theand no amount of washing will remove this. Whether the judges sitting in banco have confirmed the decision of thestaining have resulted from the absorption of materials Court below, so that Dr. Dyte has lost his case on appeal.condensed upon the parian in the moisture of the ward- The guardians not only dismissed him abruptly and un-atmosphere, or whether the discolouring be due to some reasonably, but they refused to compensate him in any way,structural change in the parian itself, does not appear to and took refuge in the strange plea that the appointmenthave been accurately determined yet. Still, the disagree- had never been passed under their common seal! / It nowable fact remains; and it may make us hesitate about in- appears that they are legally justified in such a plea. It is

curring the cost of providing parian for our hospitals important that all officers of corporations, whether medicaluntil we know the causes of the change to which we have men or others, should remember that nothing will guaranteealluded. In the meantime, some have suggested glazed tiles, them in the possession of their office but the seal of the cor-which are very effective-looking and cleanly, as a substitute ; poration affixed to the document which appoints them. It is

126

apparent that such a decision, if acted upon, is not an un- donations " amount already to £432, against .880 in 1871-amixed good, even to boards of guardians. Let it once be fact which we take to be corroborative of the opinion weunderstood that faithful and long-continued service, or a have always held, that the " Hospital Sunday movement,more than commonly efficient discharge of duties, does not so far from having a tendency to check the flow of dona-prevent ignominious and abrupt dismissal from office, and tions (at all times so acceptable), would be more likely tothe best class of men will not give up their private interests operate in the contrary direction.to serve the public. The public will be worse served; and A copy of the Manchester Free Lance has reached us,as regards the Poor-law medical service, the scandals of wherein we find a warm discriminating advocacy of thethe old workhouse wards may be revived to the discomfort principle of collections in warehouses, factories, &c., which,of the ratepayers. it is urged, should, from a parity of circumstances, be as

Dr. Dyte, however, is a very considerable loser by the productive in Manchester as it has proved in Glasgow,results of the appeal upon which he resolved with so much where over X6000 a year is realised for local charities byspirit. The fund raised for that purpose has as yet amounted such means.

____

only to about a third of the legal costs incurred. It has

therefore been resolved to keep it open for a short time CL YCERINE AS A SOLVENT FOR SUBSTANCES

longer, with the view of indemnifying him if possible for USED IN SUBCUTANEOUS INJECTION.the heavy losses sustained. Subscriptions for this purpose AT a late meeting of the K. K. Gesellschalft der Aerztewill be gratefully received by Dr. Bathurst Woodman, of in Vienna, Dr. Moritz Rosenthal, one of the docenten in theNo. 6, Christopher-street, Finsbury-square. Allgemeine Krankenhaus, advocated the use of glycerine as

———— a medium for the solution of the various substances used

THE REOUS PROFESSORSHIP OF MEDICINE IN for subcutaneous injection, and also exhibited specimens ofTHE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDCE. such solutions. It is of the highest importance that the

As we anticipated, Dr. G. E. Paget has been offered, and glycerine used be chemically pure, and free from all tracesAs we anticipated. Dr. G.E. Paget has been ottered, and of fatty acids. Byhas accepted, this post, vacated by Dr. H. J. Bond. The

c-f fatty acids. By gradual elevation of temperature, the

appointment will give general satisfaction, not only to the glycerine can be made to take up into solution a largeappointment will give general satisfaction, not only to the number of certain alkaloids -e.g., chinin, morphiin, curan,town of Cambridge where Dr. Paget is much esteemed as a number of certain alkaloids-e.g., chinin, morphin, curan, t,.,. 1° . and also opium extract, and to retain them dissolved tor, atpractitioner, and to the university where he has proved an a 11 events, a year (this and to the duration dissolved for, atable teacher and an enlightened promoter t. medical i .

all events, a year (this being the duration of the expen-able teacher and an enlightened promoter of medical In-...able teacher and an profession promoter who medical in- ment) in a complete and clear solution. Certain other sub-

terests, as also tribute to indefatigable d successful stances-e.g., them, caffein, and preparations of iron, are,nise it as a iust tribute to indeiatigable and successful on the cooling . the solution, reprecipitated.labour in advancing the higher education among the future

on the cooling of the solution, reprecipitated.labour in advancing the higher education among the future Of i. i i j of i.. , j - are 111. in onelabour in advancing the higher education among the future Of disulphate of chinin, twenty grains are soluble in onevotaries of the science and art of Medicine. Dr. Paget, it drachm of glycerine, this being in the proportion of in onemay not be generally known, is a member of Gonville and

drachm of glycerine, this being in the proportion of 1 to 3.may not be generally known, is a member of Gonville and .... , may not be generally known, is h member of Gonville and The same amount of the solvent will take up ten grains ofCaius College, of which society he was formerly a Fellow, the same amount o sub-having graduated as eighth Wrangler

in

1831. The muriate of morphia or of opium extract. Corrosive sub-

having graduated as eighth Wrangler in 1831. The .. iprofessorship which h now fills was founded by The limate, of which five to six grains are soluble in one drachmproiessorship which he now nils was founded by King .. i .. i diluted with water. One drachm of,. ;. of glycerine, must be diluted with water. One drachm ofEenry VIII. in the year 1540, but no professor was actually ,, must be i with water. One drachm ofHenry VIII. in the year 1540, but no professor was actually the solvent will take up only one grain of curare. Theappointed till 1554, when Dr. Biyth, of Kings, was chosen .

solutions. n chinin, su bcu . sly appliedappointed till 1564, when Dr. Blyth, of King’s, was chosen glycerine solutions of chinin, subcutaneously applied, weretor the post; and Dr. Paget is the sixteenth professor who found of especial benefit in intermittents. ly applied, were

- ioundot especial benefit in intermittents.has held the chair. He will deliver his inaugural lecture All of these solutions were stated to remain during theduring the present term. of these so lutions were st ated to remain during the during the present term. ———— summer months perfectly pure and free from all traces of

"HOSPITAL SUNDAY" IN LIVERPOOL. vegetable moulds. ..

In cases where the patient is very sensitive, these solu-THE result of the appeal made on behalf of the medical tions can be diluted with water, and are stated to be espe-

charities in the churches and chapels of Liverpool, on Sun- cially adapted for injections in the region of the back, ofday, the 14th instant, is not yet fully known ; but so far as the sides of the chest, and of the nates.the returns have at present been made, it appears that the ____

sum already obtained amounts to .86748, or nearly .62000more than last year’s collection realised. An excellent ad- THE CUNNINC OF CHRISTIANA EDMUNDS AND

junct to "Hospital Sunday" has been adopted in Liverpool, POISON RECULATIONS.

the object of which is to interest the working classes in the THE recent crime of Christiana Edmunds naturally directsmovement by sending round collecting-boxes to the work- attention to the question of the sufficiency of the barriersshops, warehouses, and large public establishments on the placed by the law between a murderer and the instrumentfollowing Saturday, and by thismeans a sum of £103 13s. 10d. whereby he means to commit murder-that is, when heis accounted for in the 1871 receipts. What the result of designs to employ poison.Hospital Saturday will be this year we shall probably learn This wretched woman succeeded in obtaining from Mr.next week; but the movement generally seems to have Garrett, a chemist at Brighton, no less than four differentfound such increased favour in Liverpool that we should parcels of strychnine within the space of four months, anot be surprised to find the workmen contributing twice as thing which we had hoped would have been renderedmuch as on the previous occasion. A comparison of the impossible by the Sale of Poisons Act of 1868. But whenreturns for 1871 with those just issued shows that the num- we look carefully to the transactions we cannot fail tober of contributing congregations was nearly the same in admit that the provisions of the Act were complied with byboth years (187 and 191), while the yield has increased from the chemist, and the cunning of the murderess, rather than£4624 to £6315. Among the "various donations" received his carelessness, insured her success. On her first attemptthis year is one of £ 300 from 11 A Friend to Hospital Sun- to purchase strychnia, Christiana Edmunds, using what is,day," and another of .820 from a " Non-resident," the donor we suppose, the only reasonable excuse for needing it, anof the former munificent sum expressly stipulating that alleged necessity of destroying cat, dog, or vermin, andhis name should not be divulged. Altogether these 11 various being apparently a person of undoubted respectability,

127

found no difficulty in obtaining the required witness to the concerned, they have not a single complaint to make againstpurchase, a witness who would satisfy Mr. Garrett that all Mr. Spinks ; on the contrary, he has been a faithful officerwas right. On future sales the purchaser being known, and for a great many years. The feeling of the guardians con-the seller having evidence, as it were, that no improper use sequently is to try and retain Mr. Spinks as officer to thehad been made of the former lot supplied, a witness would workhouse-a feeling which we are sure will carry generalnot be needed, the signature of the purchaser alone being sympathy. ____

sufficient. On the fourth purchase, it seems a forged order, -

purporting to come from a neighbouring chemist, was DR. LIVINGSTONE.

presented to Mr. Garrett for a larger quantity than he EARLY next month the search expedition will leave thiscould supply, and a message notifying his inability having country under the leadership of Lieutenant Llewellynbeen given in reply, a second order came for a smaller Dawson, R.N., nominated to that post by the Royal Geo-quantity, which was served. According to law these sales graphical Society. Mr. W. Oswell Livingstone, second sonwere regular. A chemist cannot, any more than a banker, of the Doctor, and one or two other gentlemen whose namesbe proof against fraud by forgery. But the cunning of have not yet transpired, will accompany the party. TheChristina Edmunds did not stop here. She knew that short interval before the departure of the expedition,Garrett’s register of the sale of poisons in his shop would coupled with the fact that the Government have declinedcontain evidence to connect her with the crime which had to afford any assistance to the enterprise, renders it the morenow been committed, and accordingly again betook herself necessary that subscribers towards its equipment shouldto forgery. This time she wrote to Mr. Garrett in the not only be liberal but prompt in their contributions. Atname of the coroner, and asked, not simply for a sight of a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, on Monday,his register, which undoubtedly the chemist would have the conduct of the Government in refusing to subsidise anbeen bound to give, but for the loan of his register, which object so laudable was severely commented on, and sugges-he was certainly indiscreet in granting, and having thus tions were made as to memorialising Parliament on thegot the fatal evidence into her possession, she tore out the matter. Later in the evening the President announcedleaves of the book on which her name appeared. that the sum already subscribed amounted to £ 1700, and atWhat, then, are we to say on the shortcomings of the its close Lieutenant Dawson was introduced, and most

Poison Act ? Two objects were undoubtedly in the mind cordially received.of the Legislature when that Act was passed. The first and

-

principal, to prevent crime ; and the idea of a person in- PROFESSOR HUXLEY.

tending to commit murder calling in a witness to his pre- IMPAIRED health, due to excessive and continuous exer-

paration for doing it being so entirely beyond all human tion, has, we regret to announce, compelled this eminentprobability, the necessity for his doing so seemed the savant and publicist to absent himself for a time from everygreatest safeguard which could be enforced. The secondary kind of occupation, and to spend two months in the mildbut still very important object was undoubtedly to supply climate of Egypt. Professor Huxley, who is now on hisevidence connecting the perpetrator with the crime, should way thither, carries with him the fervent hope of all vota-

any be committed. ries of science and liberal culture that he will be speedilyNo law, however stringent, can absolutely thwart a mur- enabled to resume, with his accustomed energy and effect,

derer; and there is one important point which cannot be those studies and investigations which have already won fortoo strongly urged on chemists, and which the Brighton him the esteem and gratitude of his most enlightenedtragedy powerfully proclaims: compliance with the require- fellow-workers.ments of the Poison Act should in no way lessen their sense

-

of personal responsibility. We trust the better education SICK-LEAVE TO MEDICAL OFFICERS SERVINCsnow enforced on them by the very Act of Parliament to IN INDIA.

which we have referred will ultimately convince them, one THE Indian Government is, it appears, bent on econo-and all, that so dangerous an article as strychnia should mising to the utmost. We may inform those who maynever be entrusted to unskilled hands, even to rid houses of not be aware of the fact that, according to a recent generaldomestic nuisances.

____ order, sick-leave to any medical officers serving in India,is not to exceed six months from the date of their de-

THE WARRINCTON BOARD OF CUARDIANS AND parture from that country; and in the event of theirTHEIR MEDICAL OFFiCER. being unfit to return to their duties at the end of that

THE Warrington Board of Guardians have had before period they will be replaced on the Indian establishmentthem a very painful matter for discussion-a matter very by efficient officers. It appears to us a somewhat harsh mea-

unusual in the way in which it came before them. They sure, after a medical officer has lost his health by somewere apprised that the Local Government Board had, with- disease, like dysentery or hepatitis, that is entirely attribu-out communication with them as a Board, called upon their table to the climate in which he has been serving, to re-old and trusted medical officer of the workhouse to resign place him at the end of a period which is in many cases in-his office as public vaccinator and medical officer. Some sufficient for his recovery. ____faults, it appears, have been found with Mr. Spinks, theofficer in question, as to the mode in which he had per- THE BRADFORD FEVER HOSPITAL.

formed his duties as public vaccinator, and thereupon has A NEW fever hospital has just been opened at Bradford;followed this severe and extreme punishment. The guar- and the building, before being finally prepared for thedians very naturally, under such circumstances, take up the reception of patients, was used as the scene of an inauguraldefence warmly. They say Mr. Spinks has been condemned conversazione, which appears to have been of the most suc-with no opportunity of justifying himself; that they have cessful character. The new institution owes its origin tonever been consulted on the subject; that, as the two the munificence of Mr. Alfred Harris, seconded by Sir Titusoffices-of vaccinator and medical charge of the union Salt, and by an anonymous donor of £ 3000; and liberallyworkhouse-are distinct, it is absurd to make a fault in one supported by the inhabitants generally. Dr. Macturk hasdepartment (if there be any fault) extend to the other; been appointed consulting physician; Drs. Nicol andand that, as far as the part over which they have control is Alexander are visiting physicians; Mr. Meade is consult-

128

ing surgeon ; and Mr. Rix, resident medical officer. The THE MEDICAL COUNCIL.

plans of the building were submitted to Dr. Murchison andto Dr. Bridges, of the Local Government Board; and no THE meeting of the General Medical Council will not

money or trouble seems to have been spared in the design take place till near the end of February, probably aboutor the construction. We trust the new hospital may prove the 27th. It is hoped that the delegates of the medicala real and lasting benefit to the locality. authorities in each division of the kingdom will agree on

- schemes for conjoint examination, but as these schemes

VENTILATION OF QUR LAW COURTS. will have to be considered and formally confirmed by eachVEN-HLA-HON OF OUR COURTS. of the universities and corporations before they can be

Stare vias super antiquas is a maxim which seems to submitted to the Medical Council under the 19th Section ofcontrol the legal profession even in matters affecting its the Act of 1858, it is thought advisable to give time forown welfare. It still consents to administer justice in this purpose.court-rooms almost as ill-ventilated as the black-hole of

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Calcutta. On Saturday the Court of Queen’s Bench was so HOSPITAL GOVERNORS.foul in its atmosphere, that the bench, the bar, and the rr question of the privileges of governors has againfoul in its atmosphere, that the bench, the bar, . and the THE question of the privileges of governors has againreporters, with unwonted unanimity, complained of the

come to the front in Brighton, this time in connexion withnuisance. When fresh air is let in, the remedy proves as the Lying-in Institution. The building can only accom-bad as the disease, severe colds being caught by the sudden modate six in-patients, and it was felt that these should bein-rush of oxygen, and loss of voice (as Mr. Manisty testified) bad cases-not the mere holders of letters of reootnmenda-being produced in consequence. Surely our legal brethren tion. At a general meeting last week it was supposed to towill not carry their jealousy of a sister profession so far as be understood that in-patient letters might be given; but . .

be understood that in-patient letters might be given; butto resent the interposition of the sanitary reformer. that they were to be entirely disregarded unless the case-

were a bad one, or if any worse case with no letter requiredABSORPTION BY THE VESICO-URETHRAL the vacant bed. Surely this is a shadowy "privilege in-

MUCOUS MEMBRANE. deed.

M. E. ALLING has recently investigated anew this muchcontested subject, and has arrived at the following conclu- IT must be somewhat humiliating to the authorities atsions :-1. The healthy bladder does not absorb to an ap- Richmond-terrace to know that a public vaccinator prac-preciable extent either remedial or toxic agents. 2. The tising in a provincial city advertises in a medical journalhealthy urethra, on the contrary, is perfectly capable of that the liberal sum of 11 three shillings and sixpence will beabsorbing them. 3. The mucous membrane of an inflamed forwarded for two dozen well and freshly charged points,bladder is unquestionably capable of absorption. 4. Lastly, or six large well-filled tubes, if sent at once, or within

in a therapeutic point of view, this capability of absorbing about a week’s time." The advertiser may, we suppose,

possessed by the inflamed bladder may be advantageously fairly plead " My poverty but not my will consents."

employed as a means of cure. Meanwhile, if public vaccinators are compelled to advertise———— rewards of shillings and sixpences for vaccine lymph, it

CHARCES ACAINST A UNION MEDICAL would be as well to put up the shutters and close the doorsOFFICER.

of the Whitehall depot. -THE Board of Guardians of the Newton Union have been AT Oxford, on the 26th inst., Dr. Rolleston, the Linacre

engaged in investigating a charge of neglect of duty brought Professor of Anatomy, will begin a course of lectures onagainst Mr. Manley, one of the district medical officers. The Digestion. Classes for practical instruction will be formedpatient about whom the charge was brought was a woman as in former terms. On Saturday, the 3rd proximo, andseventy-four years of age, with bronchitis; and the state- on succeeding Tuesdays and Saturdays, the Regius Professorments that were made do not appear very conclusive of Medicine, Dr. Acland, will resume his course of clinicalin print, especially when it is taken into account that Mr. instruction at the Infirmary. The Professor will also, onManley has held his office for twenty years, and that no days and places to be hereafter appointed, demonstrate oncharge of neglect has ever been brought against him before. the spot sanitary defects in a town and in a village; illus-The Board of Guardians, however, passed a vote of censure trating thereon principles of general and special sanitaryon Mr. Manley, and referred the case to the Local Govern- administration.ment Board. We trust that, when sifted, it may appear to

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be a less serious matter than the action of the guardians THE Home Secretary, it is understood, immediately afterwould suggest. ____

the opening of Parliament, will lay on the table of the-

House of Commons the Bill he has framed upon the ReportPROTECTION TO INFANT LIFE. of the Contagious Diseases Commissioners. The first clause

WE understand that Mr. W. T. Manning, the coroner to of the Bill will repeal all existing legislation on the subject.the Queen’s household, has undertaken to draft a Bill for The new Act will consequently be very full if not exhaustivethe Protection of Infant Life, at the instance of a party of in its provisions, and

a large part of it will not (it is antici-

clergymen and others interested in the subject. We cannot pated) provoke much opposition.but feel that the protection of life is a function of the -

Government; and that no Home Secretary, however dis- Deputy Inspector-General Massy, C.B., head of the Sani-posed to leave troublesome matters alone, would be likely tary branch of the Army Medical Department, has embarkedto declare the utter uselessness of himself and his depart- for India, and it is expected that he will soon be followedment by accepting, on such a question as this, the well- by Dr. Crawford, the head of the Medical branch of themeant suggestions of a select committee of amateurs. same department, who proceeds to Umballa. Dr. CrawfordInfant life is notoriously unprotected; but we trust that will be succeeded by Dr. Rutherford, C.B., Deputy In-the necessary changes in the law may be brought before spector-General; and Inspector-General Muir, C.B., will,Parliament by Mr. Bruce himself, and pressed forward it is believed, become the head of the Sanitary branch atwith the full weight of Government influence. Whitehall-yard.

129

SMALL-POX has been raging on the Bonny river. At thetown of Brass, fifteen miles up from the Calabar coast, 500

persons have died of it. The Brass men have adopted anovel way of stopping the epidemic. Whenever a poorwretch is taken ill, they at once cut his head off and savefurther trouble. It would be interesting to know the resultof this heroic treatment on the epidemic. The disease hasalso been prevailing to a considerable extent at one of ourmilitary stations-Cape Coast Castle and its neighbour-hood ; but is, by the latest accounts, fast dying out.

THE Government of India in the military departmenthave enacted that so long as a staff assistant-surgeon, whois promoted to a staff surgeoncy and taken on the Indianestablishment, does duty as a surgeon, or, in other words,holds the medical charge of a regiment or dep6t, he shallbe considered as entitled to Indian allowances of the higherrank from the date of his promotion, provided he is for thefull period within the authorised number of staff surgeons.

THE medical men forming part of the French NationalAssembly-about thirty in number-have formed themselvesinto an extra-parliamentary council. Among the numerousquestions which this body will have to consider are :-Theorganisation of military surgical assistance, public hygieneand legal medicine, the better security of alleged lunatics,reorganisation of medical education, and the physical ex-amination of soldiers.

____

SIR DAVID BAXTER, of Kilmaron, has just added anotherto his many acts of munificence towards Dundee. He

offered, some time ago, to the directors of the Infirmary tobuild a Convalescent Hospital for about sixty inmates at acost of from £6000 to ,83000, and to endow it with .810,000,if others subscribed the same amount. The second sum

having been made up, the building will proceed forthwith.

AN influentially-signed memorial has been presented tothe Managers of the Edinburgh Infirmary, protestingagainst the proposal to "reconsider" the statute in favourof the lady students passed on January 1st. Apropos of theinterdict recently lodged against five gentlemen elected asmanagers, answers have been prepared showing cause whythe interdict should be recalled.

THE Australian preserved meat trade appears to be flour-ishing. The statistics of the past year show that a totalof 243,344 cases were sent to England, of which 95,183 wereshipped from Melbourne and 57,289 from Port Philip. A

report derived from the evidence of officers of public insti-tutions in which this meat is now used would be speciallyinteresting and instructive.

WE understand that Dr. William Ogle has resigned theoffice of Assistant-Physician to St. George’s Hospital, butwill retain that of Lecturer on Physiology in the medicalschool. Dr. Whipham is a candidate for the vacant post.

THE interest felt by Her Majesty in the suffering poorhas again been manifested by the gift of twenty brace ofpheasants to the patients of the Charing-cross and of theMiddlesex Hospitals respectively.

AT the meeting of the Medical Society, on Mondayevening, a paper will be read by Dr. B. W. Richardson,F.R.S., on " The Science and Art of Healing Wounds."

PROFESSOR WILSON will commence his course of sixlectures on Dermatology in the theatre of the College of

Surgeons on Friday, the 2nd of February next, at 4 P.M.

AN examination of candidates for forty appointments asassistant-surgeons in the Indian Medica,l Service will beheld at Chelsea Hospital on the 12th of February.

THE troops of the Looshai expedition continue healthy,though dysentery and fever have declared themselves

among the coolies.

Public Health.I -

HEALTH OF LONDON AND THE LARGE TOWNS.

THE mortality in the eighteen chief cities and towns waslower last week than in any previous week since themiddle of November, and, with the exception of whooping-cough, the proportion of diseases of the zymotic class hasbeen remarkably uniform during the past three weeks.The mildness of the weather keeps down the aggregatedeath-rate from all causes, notwithstanding the excessivelyfatal prevalence of small-pox in several of the towns; theloss in a few towns by this one disease is more than counter-balanced by the gain in the others which the absence of in-clement weather induces. In London the mean of the dailytemperatures was below the average on 37 days out of the38 extending from 5th November to December 12th in-

clusive, and the effects of this cold weather were clearlymanifest in the death registers during six weeks, when themortality was at the annual rate of 30 per 1000. Since the13th December the temperature has been above the averageon 34 out of 39 days, and the death-rate of the last fourweeks has averaged 27 per 1000 annually. The deaths fromphthisis, bronchitis, and pneumonia averaged 713 per weekduring the cold period, against 535 per week in the warmperiod.

THE ACTION OF HEAT AND VARIOUS CHEMICAL AGENTS

ON THE PRIMITIVE FORMS OF LIFE.

At the last meeting of the Association of Medical Officersof Health, Dr. Druitt in the chair, Dr. F. Crace Calvert,F.R.S., &c., delivered an address on " The Action of Heatand Various Chemical Agents on the Primitive Forms ofLife." Dr. Calvert said that his experiments led him todisbelieve in spontaneous generation, but that he had foundgreat difficulty in securing pure water and reagents freefrom germs. After describing very fully the precautionshe had observed, he proceeded to say that he had foundthat the greater portion of all microscopic life was de-stroyed by a temperature of 200° Fahr., but that there wasone form which survived all temperatures below 300°. He

dipped calico in a putrescent solution of albumen, andthen submitted it to a temperature of 300°. The calico wassoftened, but a black opaque vibrio was afterwards foundto be as lively as ever. To test the action of various che-mical agents, he added the one-thousandth part to a

solution of white of egg and pure water. In the first seriesthe white of egg solution was quite fresh, in the second itwas alive with vibrios. Thirty-eight substances had beenexperimented on, and special note was made when vibriosfungi and odour were first observed. These tables are tooelaborate for our columns, we therefore note the followingpoints, to which special attention was drawn :-1. Chlorideof lime or bleaching powder, instead of stopping, actuallypromoted, the decomposition of the albumen liquid-vibrios

. were found in great abundance, but no fungi. 2. Sulphate

. of quinine retarded the production of vibrio life, which ap-peared on the twenty-sixth day, but even after eighty daysthere were no fungi. 3. Acids promoted the formation offungi, particularly the sulphuric and acetic; whilst arseniousacid had no marked effect. 4. Alkalies, on the other hand,promoted the formation of vibrios, and prevented the growth

, of fungi. Chloride of zinc and bichloride of mercury pre-vented the formation of vibrios, and fungi were not foundbefore the fifty-third day. 5. Carbolic and chrysolic acids

.

were the only agents which prevented the formation both of’ vibrios and fungi. 6. Permanganate prevented smell, but

had no effect in retarding the production of primitive life.In the second series the albumen solution was putrid and